UPDATE 27
9/2/2009
Rockford, Illinois was a huge success.
The crowds were enormous, the weather was great, and we flew some great
demos with the L-39 and SHAR. We also
added a new twist for this show with pyro for simulated bomb drops.
Rich Gibson was there with his team of experts. “Rich’s Incredible Pyro” is known worldwide for their ability to make things go up in smoke and flame. This is an airshow act in itself and normally; he picks another performer to pair with to detonate his explosives. We were his first choice. So we added some realistic close air support passes prior to beginning our demonstration, called a “pop-up attack.” This is exactly how I would have attacked a target in the Marines. I would attack from a distance at low altitude, under the radar. When close to the target, I would “pop-up” and climb to visually acquire the target. I would then roll inverted to track the target and deposit my bombs. This was my daily routine, as a young Lieutenant. I’m not meaning to brag, but when I was on my game, if I could see it, I could hit it. A former squadron CO used to call it “the big orange theory.” You soon develop an eye for the weapons release that is as good as the bombsight. Finding a green tank, hidden in green trees by people not wanting to be seen while you’re moving at 480 knots is the trick. By all accounts, this part of the act took the audience by surprise and was a huge hit. It’s another dimension to our demonstration that we hope to repeat at other airshows.
Once again, we carried two bottles of Scotch whisky on board the Harrier during this demo as we simulated bomb runs. We have a photo of the explosions, where you can clearly see the airplane. We plan to auction a large matted print of this photo along with one of the signed and certified bottles of whisky at the annual ICAS charity auction for the benefit of the ICAS foundation. I certified that the whisky indeed flew aboard the airplane, with the date, the maximum forward and rearward airspeeds. The pyro and ground crew teams will consume the remaining bottle at an appropriate time.
The rest of the demonstrations
went equally as well. We were able to
add the aerobatics such as rolls, but the low cloud cover prohibited any of the
overhead maneuvers, such as loops or Cuban’s.
We’ll save those for the next time.
The smoke from the demolitions remained in the show area for some time,
obscuring my maneuvers from some of the crowd, but that may have made the demo
more realistic. No one complained.
With our water injection system working perfectly, we had plenty of performance for a couple of hovers, accelerating transitions, turns, backups, and of course, the trademark “bow to the crowd.” There are some great photos taken by several photographers that we’ve posted in a new photo gallery. Take a look. If you like something, please give the photographers some business and BUY them.
The return cross-country flight was uneventful, except for getting my credit card to clear for fuel. Even though I tried to minimize the delay with a phone call to let them know I’d be making a large purchase, I still had to answer the usual, “what’s your mother’s maiden name?” questions. This time, there were more questions. “You want the fuel for what??? Why doesn’t the Marine Corps buy it’s own fuel?? You own a WHAT!!???”
It took 45 minutes to consume the fuel in the flight and 55 minutes for my card to clear. Amazing…
The airplanes are back in the barn and ONLY gripe we have on both airplanes is the L-39 smoke system is leaking smoke oil. This is a simple fix.
I would like to brag on the maintenance team that made this happen. A great group of volunteers who have made the remarkable happen. We took two airplanes, nearly half way across the country, flew two airshows with six demos, a dozen or so sponsor rides, accomplished an aerobatic check ride, drove a 24-foot support trailer there and back again, and flew the airplanes back to St. Mary’s. This is an amazing feat in itself, but even more remarkable that NOTHING BROKE.
Additionally, the FAA inspected us twice, by two different Flight Standards District Offices. The only discrepancies for the airplanes were the words “Experimental” were the wrong size.
Now let’s discuss this serious breach of regulations. It’s a single-seat jet, only two pilots fly it, we KNOW it’s Experimental and it says Experimental, but the lettering is the incorrect size. If that’s the biggest discrepancy we have to correct, we’ll take it gladly.
Our errant and non-compliant ways were easily corrected with some duct tape and a Sharpie for the airshow and we were legal to fly. For a more permanent fix, we now have “Experimental” with the correct font and correct size on the airplane. (It’s written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, but it meets the FAR.)
There was NOTHING substantial in our administrative paperwork, or materiel condition that was inadequate, unsafe, or non-airworthy. The airplane passed a complete and detailed inspection - - twice. That is a tribute to the level of detail that these people have put into making this dream happen and doing it safely. WELL DONE TEAM!
Our next airshow is Winston-Salem, North Carolina September 12th and 13th. We hope to see you all there!
Art Nalls